


Taken By The Sky

by DeanstielsDaughter



Series: In Blackest Night Fics [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Dean Winchester Hates Witches, Gen, Hunters & Hunting, OC, Original Character(s), Season/Series 13, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:21:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 14,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23580778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeanstielsDaughter/pseuds/DeanstielsDaughter
Summary: (Set in Season 13) In an attempt to keep their sanity whilst looking for a way to rescue their mother and Jack from The Rift, the brothers take on a hunt in Salem, Massachusetts where they cross paths with a young girl named Rhiannon Graves, who definitely has more to her than what meets the eye.
Series: In Blackest Night Fics [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/330838
Kudos: 3





	1. Prologue

_Thirty Years Ago_

"You lied to me!"

The girl called out to the wind, it seemed to be the only thing that would answer her.

" _We discussed the terms of our agreement upon your surrender to me,"_ the voice of something familiar, something hectic deep inside, called back to her. " _You know the deal. I never once lied to you when I said that this wouldn't be pretty."_

The girl swallowed a hard lump forming in her throat.

" _You know what you have to do,"_ it smiled. The thing. She hadn't even known it was capable of any positive emotion. " _There's no getting out of this. Not without a major price to pay."_

She knew that.

Hell, if she didn't know that…she'd be insane.

"Fine," the girl sighed, her voice dying away, and sailing upon the wind. "Tell me who's next then."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!
> 
> A/N: Yeah guys, wow, it's been awhile. I'm trying this whole thing again because something may have come to me while listening to Fleetwood Mac. I will do my best to do timely updates around school, but I make no guarantees about daily updates. Hope this may bring some people joy during quarantine.


	2. One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Winchesters take on a new case and a girl struggles to make the right choices.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "This is a song…about a witch." – Fleetwood Mac

Dean Winchester sighed, loudly, and for what seemed like the fiftieth time in a row.

"I offered to drive." Sam casually reminded him, flipping through old and yellowed newspaper articles and leather-bound books in the Impala's passenger seat. Once again, he was stuck researching while Dean zoned out for a few hours upon staring at an open road.

It hardly seemed fair.

"She's got a leak," Dean explained. "I don't want anybody else touching her until I figure it out."

"More like you don't want to actually do the hard job for once."

"I did do the hard job!" Dean motioned to the articles, swerving a little to avoid a pothole in the road. Sam nervously eyed the road for him, in the meantime.

"Lifting a few boxes so that I could access this stuff doesn't count, Dean."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Dean muttered. "We got anything yet?"

"Nothing yet on successful portals that doesn't require impossible ingredients," Sam sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Considering Cas has been MIA for the past few days, I'd say we're kind of on hold until further notice."

Dean sighed again. Fifty-one, this time.

Not that Sam was counting or anything…

"Look," Sam replied. "I'm worried about mom and Jack too, but we've kind of hit a dead end here Dean."

"I know." Dean replied, tensely, and Sam could tell he was sick of not hearing any answers. Jack and Mary had been missing in the other world for about a month now and Dean and Sam had been helpless to find a way to reach them.

"In the meantime," Sam announced. "I saw we try and find out why people are turning up dead in Salem."

"Easy answer there." Dean scoffed.

"Just because it's Salem, Massachusetts Dean-."

"Trust me Sam," Dean shook his head. "If that town wasn't known for one thing and one thing only, maybe then I'd change my tune. Meanwhile, I'm just going to assume that this hunt is nothing more than "double, double toil and trouble" are hard at work charming and cursing people."

"I sure hope you're right." Sam replied, looking out the window to his right. The trees passed by quickly, blurs of green leaves and brown bark.

Sam suddenly felt claustrophobic and looked away, back at the open road, as Dean drove on.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

Rhiannon Graves stepped out from the floor of her front porch. Tiny droplets of rain had begun to fall from the darkening clouds above. The temperature had dropped. It was no longer warm and the faded tank top she wore no longer provided her the same comfort it had earlier.

She gazed up at the sky, shivering, and encircling her arms around her midsection. It was almost five o' clock. On a normal day, she'd have to have dinner on the table by then.

It hadn't been a normal day in a very long time.

"Come on…" she muttered. Pacing back and forth and wanting so badly to curl up in the blankets on her bed. She'd close her eyes and forget about this whole nightmare.

If only she had run away like she'd planned at eight years old.

The wind suddenly wrapped around her like a blanket. Wispy, swirls of gray matter from the clouds above brought goosebumps to the surface of her skin. She shivered again, this time feeling chilled to the bone, and then turned to face the source.

He never appeared in the same form twice. That much, she'd come to notice. He always came at the same time, without fail. Never late and never early. It must have finally turned five o' clock.

If it was still normal days that filled her time, her grandmother would have flayed her alive for not having dinner on the table.

"Did you finally decide who you want next?" Rhiannon asked, bitterly.

If she had known years ago, what she was getting herself into, she'd have thrown away every spell book she'd ever been given.

" _Patience, child."_ The man spoke, despite having no open mouth. He allowed his mind to do all his talking for him.

"I've had nothing, but patience, for eleven years now," she protested. Her voice cracked ever so slightly, and she cursed herself. It wasn't good to show fear around this man. Even though, he could hardly be considered one at all.

"Hasn't this gone on long enough?!"

She felt her throat constricting. He could easily snap it in half if he wanted to, but for some reason he continued to keep her alive.

" _It ends when I say it ends,"_ the man appeared in front of her, suddenly. Closer than before, but still never invading too much of her space. There was a coldness which surrounded him and spread through the air like a bad virus.

" _Your mother was weak,"_ he continued. " _Much weaker than you. Both in mind and in ability. You, my dear, have power beyond your wildest dreams."_

He touched her chin, lifting it up so that she looked into his lifeless gray eyes.

_"You just simply haven't allowed me to show you how to harness all of it."_

"Do I look stupid to you?" Rhiannon jerked her head away, feeling invaded by his touch. A chill spread down her spine, and she tried to focus her attention on what little sun had decided to peek through the darkened clouds.

 _"Quite the opposite,"_ he stared at her, as a wolf would its prey. " _As I stated before."_

"Just give me a name!" Rhiannon exclaimed.

" _Marlene Adams."_ The man said.

Sweet old Marlene Adams from up the street. The same old woman who'd bandaged Rhiannon's knee when she'd fallen off her bike when she was seven. The old woman who left baskets of warm cookies on doorsteps around Christmastime.

Oh, Rhiannon was truly going to hell for this one…

"Fine," she said. "Can I go make dinner now?"

 _"Don't forget this,"_ the man handed her a small vial, glistening, despite the dimming light. It sent an icy like burn straight through Rhiannon's fingers. Rhiannon swallowed hard and clenched her hand around it.

_"She needs it to stay afloat, after all."_

Rhiannon nodded, and the man stepped back. He turned to face the tree nearby and then slipped through it as though it were nothing, but an illusion, and he was gone. Rhiannon sighed and gripped the vial tightly in her fist, holding it close to her chest, and walking inside.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

The house was dusty. The walls and counter tops were covered in various knick-knacks of all walks of life. Some of which would be tough to explain to any normal person who ever came in the house, something Rhiannon did not partake in…having many friends. A tea kettle whistled, signaling the end to its boiling, and Rhiannon walked over to it and emptied the hot water into an awaiting mug. The stove beeped, signaling the food was done.

Rhiannon took a tea bag and dipped it into the mug, letting the aroma rise off the rim of the mug, and she popped the cork on the vial He had given her. Lower level demons were tricky little bastards, but they came in handy sometimes.

In such times as keeping her mother alive until she could figure something out.

The light from inside the vial was so warm, so pure, it was hard to believe it was made by something from the underworld. Rhiannon always felt nauseous after handling it. Wanting to chuck the vial far into the woods behind her house instead of using it.

"Mom," Rhiannon rubbed an older woman's shoulder. The woman sat in a wheelchair, pulled up to the dining room table, and she shuddered a little with the contact. "Here's your tea."

The woman stared straight forward, stone faced and stoically, never saying a word or so much as twitching a finger.

"I hope you like it this time," Rhiannon swallowed hard and sat down in front of her, assisting the woman in drinking. "I added that extra something again."

Her mother, once again, said nothing and required a great deal of assistance in finishing the mug of tea. Rhiannon brought the food, placing the plate on a fold up table near where her mother sat and feeding it to her bit by bit.

Each bit disappearing like Rhiannon's own life would day by day every day she played this game.

It was a necessary evil though and this would all be over soon.

Hopefully…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!
> 
> A/N: I hope you're enjoying Rhiannon's character so far, my dear readers! I know I didn't have any ideas for any fics for a very long time. In fact, I never thought I would again, the way my life has been going for the past few years. Honestly though, I'm just glad to be back, even if it is just for this story…for the time being. Quarantine has helped me in ways (creatively) that I never thought it would.
> 
> Until next chapter!


	3. Two

Sam had successfully spent most of his day staring at the latest motel ceiling. It was nice, not having to rely on such places for the brothers' living quarters anymore. Something about the musty, old room had him in a dreamlike trance.

" _Stay here," Dad had always said. "I'll be back soon."_

That was what dad had always said…although it rarely proved to be true.

Mom would have never put them through such things. That was why they needed her back. They needed Jack back too. The poor kid was barely a year old in angel standards and he had already been so much, too much.

"Look alive Sammy," Dean came in through the front door and Sam sat up, blinking away the haze.

"What'd you find out?" Sam asked, rubbing at his eyes.

"Well," Dean sat down at the small dining table after reaching for a beer in the fridge. "Locals say this has been happening for a couple of years now. Somebody turns up dead, there's no DNA, no motive. It's always one of the nicest people around too. The cops gave up a long time ago, apparently."

"So," Sam sighed. "We basically have no leads."

"Yep," Dean replicated the sigh and leaned back in the chair. The beer tasted smooth on his parched tongue. "Looks like we're winging this one."

"Ritualistic killings could be anything Dean," Sam leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "Werewolves, vampires, any of the creatures we've hunted."

"Witches?" Dean suggested.

"Just because we're in Salem…"

"Alright, alright," Dean waved him off. "I get it, but nine times out of ten, it's always witches. You know, when it's all that cult-like shit. Mysterious deaths. I'm just saying I wouldn't be surprised."

"I say," Sam stood from the side of the bed. The musty smell returned. His chest tightened ever so slightly. "We investigate on our own. Forget the cops. Do some footwork. It's better than just sitting here and waiting for somebody else to die."

"I agree," Dean finished off his beer and stood up as well. "The sooner we get over with, the sooner we can get mom back. Jack too."

Dean tossed the beer bottle into the trash can. It made a crashing sound and then broke. Sam cringed a little, recalling that sound very well from his father's time on this earth, and he tried to block out the memories his mind kept conjuring. One of their first hunts ever as a family had been witches.

Sam hoped with all his might this wasn't witches.

Dean adjusted his tie, making sure it was on tight, and made his way to the door.

"In the meantime," Dean announced. "I met the nicest lady down at the local's hangout. I say we start there."

Sam sighed and rolled his eyes as he followed his brother.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

Lockers slammed, chatter filled the hallways, and Rhiannon tried to remain unseen for another day.

Nothing extracurricular about high school excited her. The preps, too preoccupied with who ruled their social scene to care about much else, other than how much money their parents earned and then turned around and snorted up their noses. The jocks, not really her type of people. The goths, too emotional in a very ironic way, for even Rhiannon.

So, she remained as anonymous as she could.

Emphasis on, as she could.

"Hey," a familiar voice came from behind her. "Hey! I'm talking to you!"

Rhiannon hesitated a moment, then turned to face Haley Barns, a girl who constantly tried to best Rhiannon in everything they did, all while simultaneously not giving a shit about any other aspect of her days at school. It was rumored that Haley had gotten suspended from her other school due to several unexplained incidents and a mysterious fire without an apparent cause. Ever since she had come to Henderson High School, Haley had taken a weird interest in Rhiannon and the two had become what one could call frenemies.

What could Haley possibly want now?

"Well that was hell wasn't it?" she stated.

"Last I recall," Rhiannon slammed her locker shut and Haley jumped to avoid the impact. "You were picking at the undersides of your fingernails under your desk with a pocketknife. Be glad nobody's seen it yet. You'd get suspended again."

"Ouch," Haley pretended to hold her heart. "That hurt, Ry."

"Don't call me that," Rhiannon rolled her eyes and clutched her books close to her chest as she navigated the hallway headed to science class. "Also, why are you following me?"

"Geez," it was Haley's turn to roll her eyes. "Just trying to make conversation. You've looked like you needed a friend for months now. Don't know why you're turning down a perfectly viable option here."

"Because I don't need a friend," Rhiannon spun around quickly to face her and give her a stern look. "Certainly not one as annoying as you are. Now, leave me alone!"

Rhiannon turned to stomp off, but instead ran smack dab into the front side of Meredith Jenkins, by far one of the bitchiest girls in school. Rhiannon's and Meredith's books went flying, causing papers to spread across the cold vinyl hall floor.

"Watch it!" Meredith shot Rhiannon a glare and gathered up her things, as a crowd had already formed.

"I think a new set of eyes would do you some good," Haley said to Meredith. "Much less a new set of manners."

"Was I talking to you, pyro freak?" Meredith rolled her eyes and pushed through the two of them, causing Rhiannon to fall back to the ground, jarring her knees. Meredith sashayed off down the hall, her small entourage breaking up and going their separate ways.

"You okay?" Haley asked Rhiannon and tried to help her up, Rhiannon pushed her hand away.

"I'm fine." She muttered and walked away without another word, leaving Haley staring.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

Meredith Jenkins checked her makeup in the school's bathroom mirror. She sighed upon seeing her reflection. It was another sleepless night last night. Her parents, arguing over the Ivy League schools she was set to attend. Nobody cared about her art or her input in her future. Nobody cared about what she wanted.

Thus, pleasing mom and dad had become her lifetime goal. Staying up late every night to study for and ace every test and covering her tiredness with makeup the next day. Running for every club office in school, to appear more well-rounded and successful. Brown nosing with every person of importance in school.

Verbally beating the shit out of anybody who tried to outrun or overturn her.

Rhiannon Graves was easily just as smart as her, but that girl's family was weird, and she was so disengaged and so quiet. She'd never make it in the real world.

At least, that's what Meredith told herself, to justify her actions.

She finished with her makeup, eager to clean up the dark circles which lingered below her eyes.

Suddenly, she realized she wasn't alone or at least she didn't feel alone. The bathroom felt smaller, as though she were trapped, like a rat in a cage.

Suddenly, she couldn't breathe.

This wasn't the normal anxiety that befell her. Meredith grasped at her throat, willing fresh air to go down, to go in. Nothing worked. Meredith's eyes flew wide, her fingernails digging into the wall as she struggled to continue to live.

Her vision blurred and the room started to go dark. Meredith thought of her parents, hearing their yelling. That was the last thing she would hear before she died. Such as sad thought, she mused as the light went out for the final time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!
> 
> A/N: Let me know what you guys think, I'm dying to hear from you!


	4. Three

Dean slowly closed the door to the Impala and stared at the scene before him.

An ordinary high school suddenly surrounded by police and crime scene tape. Groups of students gathered outside, some scared, some gossiping and some confused about why they were outside in the first place. It wasn’t the first time he and Sam had stumbled upon a similar moment and it wouldn’t be the last.

The brothers had stopped while driving around town, looking for anything strange. It was hard enough trying to find leads. It was even harder trying to find anything weird going on in one of the capital cities of weird. He had assumed a crime scene was the best place to start.

“Scuse me,” Dean walked over to the first cop who looked as though he wouldn’t take their heads off. “Agents Fowler and Burns. Which one of you is in charge here?”

“That would be me,” a gruff looking cop walked up to Sam and Dean, shooing the young and dorky looking deputy out of the way. The twenty something cleared his throat and stumbled as he got up before walking over to a nearby group of kids and starting to ask questions.

“Any particular reason nobody told me about Feds in my town?”

“The recent deaths, Captain,” Sam spoke up, he was usually better at smoothing things over with police anyway, so Dean let him speak. “Anytime there’s anything that looks like it could be in the realm of serial killer our boss sends somebody in to have a look.”

“Hmm,” the police Captain gave Sam and Dean a once over, and Dean watched as his hand twitched near his belt where his phone resided. The elder hunter prayed the Captain wouldn’t call anyone and try to confirm their story. It had definitely happened before, and Dean started going through all the usual scenarios and statements in his head. Instead, the Captain’s hand reached for his wallet and pulled out a card. Sam and Dean both visibly relaxed, Sam tugging at his tie and Dean giving the cop a smile.

“If you think of anything helpful, or you see anything else weirder than today, call me. Otherwise, this is my investigation. So, stay out of it unless I give the okay, okay?” he instructed.

The Captain then walked off to assist other members of the force nearby questioning kids, who Dean could tell were clearly shaken and frightened by something. Sam read over the card while Dean continued to look around.

The courtyard looked relatively normal. No bloodstains, no signs of leftover ghost goo. Nothing to suggest anything attacked from the outside. He supposed that was the case as well, because who in their right mind would corral teenagers in a school courtyard if something had gone down on its grounds.

Then, Dean saw the stretcher, and the body bag being wheeled from inside the school to the awaiting ambulance, and his thoughts started to reel. It had been from the inside. Could have been a ghost, maybe, but something itching at the back of Dean’s mind suggested otherwise.

God damn, he hated witches.

“Dean,” Sam knocked him out of his trance, and Dean turned to face his younger brother. “You think any of these kids saw anything?”

“If they did,” Dean commented. “What makes you think they’re gonna talk to us? Not with the cops swarming.”

Suddenly, something caught Dean’s eye, and it wasn’t anything too out of the ordinary.

In fact, it was the most ordinary looking girl he’d ever seen, but the way she slunk away from the crowd, looked around and vanished before he could figure out where she went, that suggested otherwise.

Dean motioned for Sam to follow him.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

Rhiannon’s heart pounded as she hugged her schoolbooks tight to her chest and rounded the east corner of the school. She pressed her back up against the cool bricks, closed her eyes, and tried to breathe.

She had done nothing wrong.

At least, she tried to convince herself of that, but she recognized this handiwork. This type of slaughter was methodical. She hadn’t gotten a good look at the body, but she assumed Meredith Jenkins was simply a husk of what she had once been.

Flashes of images of the other bodies came into Rhiannon’s mind. The innocent souls she had taken in His name. The man who thrived in the darkness and who considered himself some kind of God. Rhiannon felt her chest caving in.

“There you are,” Haley’s face came into view and Rhiannon suddenly came back to reality. “Why did you just sneak off like that? The cops wanna talk to everybody. I don’t know why, but hey it beats science class right?”

Rhiannon remembered her breathing and stared at Haley like she was nuts.

“Ooh do you think they’ll give us all A’s for the semester because somebody died?”

“What the hell is your problem?” Rhiannon glared at Haley and pushed away from the wall.

“What,” Haley chuckled, but it quickly petered out. “It’s just a-.”

“A joke,” Rhiannon rolled her eyes. “Everything’s a damn joke with you, isn’t it. Freak…”

“Excuse me…” Haley gave her a disgruntled look.

“Look,” Rhiannon snapped. “Just, for the last time, leave me the hell alone okay? I want nothing to do with you and your freakishness, I’ve got enough shit going on and now this happens!”

“Well, I didn’t do this, if that’s what you think.” Haley said, quieter than Rhiannon had ever heard her speak.

“I’m going home,” Rhiannon sighed and hitched her backpack higher on her shoulders. “I don’t think anyone is going to stop me and you’d better not say anything either.”

Rhiannon pushed past Haley and disappeared through a back gate near the school fence, leaving Haley dumbfounded and staring at where she once stood.

Dean and Sam rounded the corner, trying to find where the blonde-haired girl had gone, but instead Haley looked up and over at them with a terrible grimace.

“The hell are you two looking at?” she asked and stalked off, Dean giving her a look in return and Sam giving an embarrassed smile and waving at her before the pair turned around and decided to leave the scene.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

Once home, Rhiannon slammed the door shut behind her and locked every lock, keeping absolutely quiet until she was sure she wasn’t being followed before throwing her bag down on the ground and running to the living room where her mother forever resided.

Her mother was alive, fine even. The television was still on, and she was still in her catatonic state.

It was better than her being dead.

Once she had made sure her mother was alright, Rhiannon sprinted to her room and closed that door too. Various trinkets on the walls and on her nightstand made noise as she did so. The room was dark, but she didn’t dare open the curtains. Not when the neighbors and passerby might see.

She shuffled a few papers on her desk around, grabbing the one marked with fiery red ink and threw up her carpet to reveal the symbol she had meticulously painted beneath. She didn’t know why she bothered to hide it. It wasn’t like she ever had people over in the first place.

On the paper was a spell she knew by heart, but she still looked over it, and then closed her eyes as she recited the words. The air in the room grew hot and then cold, then a breeze floated in a kicked up the dust on the floor and the papers on her desk flew everywhere before it finally settled.

He stood before her, wearing a cocky smirk on his face.

“ _You see what happens when we don’t keep to a schedule?”_ he chuckled.

Then, his smile fell.

“ _Bad things, young one. You force me to do awfully bad things.”_

Rhiannon stared up at him, fear, and desperation in her eyes.

" _You don’t wanna kill her,”_ He shook his head, clicking his tongue. “ _They never do. Not unless they’re worthy of my time.”_

“Stop!” Rhiannon yelled, and He paused his movement to disappear. “Please…stop. I’ll do what you wish I’ve just-.”

“ _Had other priorities,”_ He finished for her. “ _Just like I have other, better, clients. Ones who are willing to do anything for anyone they’ve paid my price for.”_

Rhiannon quietly pleaded with him, even holding up a knife close to her skin, and slowly pressing it into it.

“I would bleed for my mother,” she said. “I would kill for my mother’s life. I have before. Just please, don’t leave. She’ll die without you…without us.”

He considered those words, slowly turning to face Rhiannon again, and his eyes went purple after a smirk crossed over his face.

" _Perhaps, you’re just what I’ve been looking for after all my dear,”_ he touched her chin, lifting it up to meet his eyes. “ _Now, don’t disappoint me again this evening. If I don’t get a soul, I’ll have to take matters into my own hands, and none of us want that now do we?”_

Rhiannon shook her head, trying not to show the tears starting to fall from her eyes.

“ _Good girl,”_ he chuckled. “ _Now, don’t keep me waiting.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!  
> Hope everyone is enjoying so far! See you again soon!


	5. Four

Marlene Adams poured a cup of decaf coffee and sighed contently. The cool breeze came in from the window and tickled her cheeks before moving through the kitchen and vanishing. One would think there were only so many sunsets that could take one’s breath away, but Marlene disagreed. She knew her late husband would have too.

She missed Johnathan something awful. Especially on nice nights like this one.

She sat down in her favorite chair and took a small sip of the coffee, covering her legs with a blanket, and picking up the book she’d been reading for about a week. She hadn’t managed to get through really any of it at all.

The breeze came in again, but this time much chillier and Marlene shivered. She got up from the chair, annoyed at the fact that she still hadn’t gotten through the paragraph she’d been stuck on, and went over to the window. The third chill was different, it was almost bone chilling. Then, there was a slam somewhere in the distance.

Marlene slowly followed the noise, after having grabbed a decent sized kitchen knife, and walked close to the wall. Way back when, her husband had been the one to handle the mysterious doorbell rings in the middle of the night, the weird noises, and the uncertainty.

Now, the doorbell was ringing, and, for some reason, she felt apprehensive to answer it.

“I’m coming,” she called out. “Hold on…”

Marlene grabbed the handle, gripping tightly to the knife, and she flung the door open.

“Oh,” she let out a sigh of relief. “It’s just you, darling.”

“Hello Ms. Adams,” Rhiannon said, hands hidden in the pockets of her sweatshirt. “Can I come in please?”

“Of course, darling,” Marlene stared for a moment. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”

“I just needed someone to talk to,” Rhiannon sighed, and stepped through the door frame. She waited until Marlene turned around to reach into her pocket and drop the coin that was in it.

“You always told me I could come here if I needed to.”

Rhiannon felt her throat constrict, and she tried not to cry. She meant those words.

“Well of course,” Marlene smiled, and Rhiannon felt worse. “Come on in. I was just sitting down to a book, but I think I’d much rather have someone to talk to too.”

Rhiannon felt the same chill Marlene had felt earlier creep up under the door behind her, and He came in, attracted by the coin He had given her when they’d first come to their agreement. He winked when she looked back and then vanished. Rhiannon swallowed hard and continued to follow Marlene into the living room.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

“You’ll have to excuse the mess,” Marlene explained as she sat down and offered the couch to Rhiannon. “I’m not used to having company over. Haven’t really had an excuse in a long time.”

“I can imagine,” Rhiannon replied, sitting down on the couch and taking in the room around her. The dusty old bookshelves, the stacks of papers on the desk nearby and the closed office door, and the various photos of her late husband Johnathan.

“I haven’t had anyone over in years either.”

“I know it goes without saying,” Marlene said, draping a blanket over her legs again. “But I’m terribly sorry about your mother. I know it must be hard, pretty much being a caretaker for her. I don’t know how you do it.”

“One day at a time,” Rhiannon squeaked out. “I have help sometimes.”

“That’s great darling.” Marlene smiled and took another drink of coffee.

Rhiannon waited a moment, the longer she waited the more her stomach flipped. He was in the house somewhere, scoping out everything, and waiting for her signal. In fact, she saw him in the hallway, running a finger over a picture of Marlene and Johnathan, and smirking.

“Ms. Adams,” Rhiannon stood up. “I can get you more coffee, if you’d like?”

“Of course, darling,” Marlene smiled and leaned back in her chair. “Thank you.”

Rhiannon stood, walking with the cup to the kitchen, and pouring more coffee. She hesitated a moment, thinking about what she was about to do.

 _“You know what has to be done,”_ she heard Him in her ear. “ _This is the only way I can sustain her. Your mother wouldn’t stand a chance without me.”_

Rhiannon closed her eyes. She knew it was true.

With that, she uncorked the vial in her pocket and poured it into the coffee.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

Dean walked in from the car, feeling tired and ragged. He hadn’t really slept well in days, his thoughts and nightmares turning to his mom and Jack stuck in the alternate world. They were running out of time and options. They had exhausted every witch, shaman, and hunter with expanded knowledge they could think of. In fact, Jody and Garth were working overtime trying to find answers in various books. No updates, but at this point Dean would take a miracle.

Right now, though, he could use a cup of strong coffee.

He smiled at the waitress upon sitting down at the table Sam had procured for hours now. His brother typed away on his laptop, his lip moving ever so slightly as he read whatever text was on screen.

“Alright,” Dean said. “Have we got anything on the death of Sabrina the Teenage Bitch?”

“Meredith Jenkins,” Sam said, handing Dean her file that he had managed to swipe from the morgue. “Not well liked, but rich beyond her wildest dreams. Her parents owned half of the city pretty much. Apparently, they’re so broken up over her death, they’re donating a butt load of money to the local high school debate team.”

“I take it that was Barbie’s calling over there?” Dean asked.

“I suppose, yeah,” Sam continued. “Either way, I looked over the body. Traces of sulfur.”

“So, demons.” Dean nodded. “Alright, well that’s easy. Banish the bitches and give a parting gift of ‘see you never’.”

“That’s the thing,” Sam said. “The killings? They don’t really scream demon to me.”

“So, no witches?” Dean concluded.

“Wouldn’t be the weirdest thing that’s ever happened,” Sam replied. “The only question is, what do demons want?”

“Unlimited cosmic power,” Dean jokingly replied, taking a drink of his coffee that the waitress brought him. “Who cares man, let’s just gank all the sons of bitches, get the hell out of here, and focus on finding mom and Jack.”

“Guns first, questions later,” Sam chuckled halfheartedly. “We’re back to that again, huh?”

“Always worked before.” Dean smirked and finished his drink.

Suddenly, the brothers turned their heads, as the sound and sight of a bunch of sirens and EMS sped off down the street.

Dean grabbed the check and the brothers were out the door before another cloud of steam could even lift off the coffee mug.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

“You got what you wanted,” Rhiannon ground her teeth, her shoulders shaking. It wasn’t the first kill, but it didn’t hurt any less.

“Now give me what I want.”

He smirked, passing her another vial of the liquid keeping her mother alive, and he patted her on the back. Rhiannon shivered, closing her eyes, and wishing she were anywhere else.

“ _I would suggest vacating before the cops show up,”_ He said. “ _If there are any eyewitnesses, I’ll make sure they don’t speak. You gave me what I wanted, and I appreciate that immensely.”_

Rhiannon sighed and started to leave out the back door, crawling along the shrub line, and leaving Him to clean up her handiwork.


	6. Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: A few of my OCs from another story I've written called "In Blackest Night" will make a minor appearance in this story. Nothing that requires you to already know these characters, but if you're interested, go check out that story!

Haley Barns exited out the back door of a house that wasn't her own and swallowed what little spit was left in her parched throat. She reached for her cell phone, checking the time. The meeting was at midnight. It was barely ten pm. She didn't know why she kept obsessively checking.

Damn her anxiety.

She stared at the garden hose, wanting desperately to take a drink, but she had to wait. She couldn't risk leaving her fingerprints. Even though the former homeowner had asked her to be there.

" _You've done well,"_ Archon, a minor demon from the upper realms of hell spoke from behind Haley. His purplish-blue eyes shone in the dim light.

" _It really is a shame,"_ Archon continued. " _How one thing can damn a person for all eternity."_

Mitch Jackson, the man whom Haley had just taken his soul, had died peacefully. He had been happy to go after all the pain he'd endured. Mental illness was difficult. It was something he'd dealt with all his life. It had led him to do terrible things in his past, and though he regretted them, the damage had been done long ago.

Haley had done him quite a service and Archon lived to see another day.

It was the symbiotic relationship to end all symbiotic relationships.

"Yes," Haley admitted. She knew damn well she shared a similar fate, but there was a reason for it. There was always a reason somebody got into this business.

"He helped me though," she continued and reached for the glowing vial that Archon handed her. "That's what matters right now."

" _Atta girl,"_ Archon winked and gave her a shit eating grin. " _Now go meet up with your boy toy and give that good shit to Damian."_

"You know how wrong that sounds." Haley snorted and Archon vanished while she laughed.

Her phone rang the moment she started up the street.

" _Hails,"_ Mason Sharpe was on the other end of the line. " _You'd better get home quick."_

"Why?" she asked. "There's no way Jamie called the cops yet. She told us she'd wait until we all got to the safe spot then she'd call."

" _Well somebody did,"_ Mason sounded alarmed, as though he was running. " _Not in our area, but Hannah's. She got outta there faster than a bat outta hell, but there's a body not accounted for. We'll have to investigate when the cops go away."_

"Alright," Haley swallowed hard. "I'll see you later tonight. Stay safe."

Mason hung up and Haley pocketed her phone, suddenly walking faster and being more vigilant. Somebody had taken somebody who wasn't on the list. It wasn't unheard of, but it wasn't something that happened often.

Rogues weren't taken lightly.

***

The crime scene had mostly been a bust, but a strange feeling had egged Dean on to investigate anyway. The same cop from before had shown up and quickly tried to dismiss the brothers. It was clear he wasn't a fan of FBI (or fake FBI) in general, much less at his crime scenes. Still, Sam had snuck around the corner and scanned for EMF or other things awry while Dean smooth talked the captain.

While there was no EMF, Sam hadn't left empty handed.

Now, the brothers were out of their monkey suits, sipping beers, and video chatting with some hunters they'd met in New Orleans who had a bit of expertise on what they thought they were dealing with.

"LeSalle," Sam smiled. "How the hell are you man?"

" _Can't complain Sam,"_ LeSalle chuckled. " _Can't rightly complain much. Took out a vamp nest the other week. Deacon helped. I was shocked, man, I figured that son of a bitch would never have worked with me."_

"Sounds like you guys have been busy," Dean chimed in, sipping his beer. "Hate to make you even more so."

 _"Y'all ask away,"_ LeSalle moved his laptop, leaning in to kiss the other man who now entered the frame. " _Drewby here might have some insight."_

 _"You guys talking witches?"_ Drew, LeSalle's partner, chuckled and sat down. " _Shit me and Lila know some about that, but Sallie's your man for that for sure."_

"You know anything about witches and demons working together?" Sam asked.

 _"Oh sure,"_ LeSalle explained. " _Fairly common actually. It's called Soul Catching. Ancient practice among the warlock and witch community. I haven't seen anyone do it in years though."_

"Would you happen to know why it could be happening?" Dean asked.

 _"No particular reason that it happens,"_ LeSalle continued. " _The demons the witches usually work with aren't anything to write home about. Lower level demons, capable of deals at most. They give the recipient what they want though, in exchange for them harvesting a human soul. Usually one bound for Hell anyway."_

"So," Sam sighed. "Witches giving demons souls at the expense of potentially getting caught themselves. What could possibly be worth that?"

 _"Usually the demon gives the witch something they want more than anything else, and they'll keep giving it to them as long as they need it or desire it."_ LeSalle explained in a serious tone. Drew rubbed at his arm and snuggled closer to him.

"Thanks Salle," Dean nodded. "We'll call you if we think of anything else."

LeSalle nodded and signed off. Sam's computer screen went black and he closed the lid of the laptop.

"Well," Sam said. "That leaves us with a few more answers, but not as many as I'd like."

"You sound like dad," Dean chuckled and threw his beer away. Sam gave him a look.

"There's no established pattern," Sam muttered. "No suspects that we know of."

"This one's gonna take a while," Dean sat back down. "That much we've established but look. The way I see it, this is good for us. We still have no way of finding mom and Jack and we've scoured every book and article we've got. Cas is still missing in action."

Sam gave Dean another look, knowing damn well he was right. It was simply hard to think about smaller things when the bigger picture was just so big and seemingly never-ending.

"We deserve the break," Dean said. "So, let's try to figure this one out."

Sam nodded, rebooting his computer and pulling up the police files. He silently started going over them again. At least they knew how the victims had died.

Dean stared at the photos of the deceased and the crime scenes. Sulfur had been found, but only in one spot. Meaning the demon had stayed in one place long enough to leave a substantial enough sample for even the police to notice. The carpet had indents in it, but the shoe size wasn't that of a normal adult. The demon must have possessed a child or teenager.

If it were working with witches though, it wouldn't have been there alone.

Somebody else had been in the house and there were most likely traffic cameras on the street.

"Can you hack into the traffic cams on the street?" Dean asked.

Sam did so without a word, pressing a few buttons and the recordings came up.

Suddenly, a teenage girl appeared with a hoodie covering her head. She looked around and then crossed the street, almost vanishing from the camera view before Dean told Sam to pause it.

The hoodie had a giant sunflower on the front of it.

Dean had definitely seen it before.

***

Rhiannon sat on her bed, trying not to shake, trying not to think about anything she had just done.

The window was open, and the wind came in, but it was nothing like the chill from before. She pulled the blanket on her bed closer to her body, hoping it would simply swallow her whole and she'd vanish. The sirens had stopped an hour ago, but she could hear them along with His voice in her head.

She resisted the urge to cry.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash outside her window and Rhiannon jumped. At first, she tried to hide under the blanket, but quickly realized the stupidity behind that. If anybody or anything broke in, it would easily find her.

Rhiannon approached the window, cautious, and she grabbed the letter opener on her desk before creeping up to the window. Rhiannon grabbed the figure in the window, pulling them through it, and slamming them onto the ground.

Haley Barns rolled onto the floor and let out a grunt.

"Haley," Rhiannon exclaimed. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

"I just wanted to have a nice chat," Haley groaned, moving her hair from her eyes. "Apparently you wanted to reenact WWE."

"How in the hell do you know where I live?" Rhiannon glared.

"The school has a directory you know," Haley got up from the floor and brushed herself off. "I had a hunch and I wanted to follow up on it."

"And that hunch is?" Rhiannon snapped.

"You're a witch," Haley replied. "You just didn't want anyone to know it, and I started to figure it out, so you pushed me away."

Rhiannon felt her stomach drop. The room felt colder somehow.

"Tell me I'm wrong." Haley gave her a look and waited for an answer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: There you have it, the monsters are revealed, but the Winchesters still have the remainder of a case to solve. So, this story is far from over. Hope everybody is enjoying so far. Sorry for the slow updates. Training a puppy is a lot of work and takes a lot of time.


	7. Six

"Where are you taking me?" Rhiannon asked.

Haley Barns trekked up a hill, lifted up a somewhat spiky vine, and motioned for Rhiannon to follow. Rhiannon tripped coming up the small dirt mound, but she still managed to keep up with Haley.

"In normal circumstances I wouldn't do this," Haley explained. "But we really need everybody we can get right now."

"We?" Rhiannon asked, confused.

When they reached the top of the hill, Haley motioned to an open clearing and in said clearing there stood a small group of people. They turned almost in unison to face the pair of girls.

"Who's this?" one of the guys spoke up.

"Easy Mason," Haley smirked and walked over to the group, "She does what we do too."

"What?" Rhiannon stammered. "I don't-."

Mason glared, suddenly pushing Rhiannon up against a tree and his eyes turned from brown to an almost electric blue.

"You're the dumb bitch that's going to get us caught!" Mason yelled. "You're an idiot Haley, why would you bring her here?"

"She knows what she's doing Mason," another girl spoke up and pulled him away from Rhiannon. She rubbed at her arms and tried not to meet his eyes.

"She wouldn't bring anybody here who couldn't help us."

"Thank you, Hannah." Haley nodded and sat down on a nearby fallen log.

"Help you?" Rhiannon asked. "Help you with what?"

The group looked over and then chatted a moment among themselves before Haley finally stood back up and walked back over to Rhiannon.

"You're a Soul Catcher," Haley said. Rhiannon started to protest, but Haley stopped her. "It's okay. We all are."

Rhiannon had about a million questions, mostly though she just wanted to go back home. It wasn't safe to leave her mother alone for so long, and without her after dinner tea. The woman, though she was mute, didn't do well when she strayed from her routine.

Or rather, Rhiannon was scared of what might happen if she left her for even a second beyond what she and He had discussed.

"I won't ask you why you do it," Haley continued. "Although based on a lack of parental figures interrupting when I broke into your house, I'll take a wild guess. Anyway, we've been looking for at least one more person well versed in this kind of magic. We need them for something important."

"And that would be?" Rhiannon gave her an accusatory look.

"You're going to help us save the world." Haley gave her a determined smile.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

"What did LeSalle say?" Dean asked as he sped down the street, while looking out for small town cops who were sure to prowling after the incident that had happened.

"Nothing too much more than he explained the first time," Sam replied, sifting through papers, and trying his best not to get thrown around too much due to Dean's driving.

"He gave me a list of names though. Demons that he's encountered that participate in Soul Catching. He said it's kind of concerning that so many are congregated in one place."

"Did he say why?" Dean took another sharp left turn and started looking around at the house numbers.

"He said it could either be that they all happened to have contracts in the same town," Sam replied. "Or it could be worse case scenario."

"That is?" Dean asked and parked when he found the house number.

"They're trying to summon their boss." Sam said.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

"You're going to do what?!" Rhiannon yelled and jumped back from Haley, jerking her hand away as she went. The others stared at her strangely, and Haley motioned for her to follow her away from the group. The pair went to the edge of the clearing.

"Oh, c'mon it's not that bad," Haley replied. "The demons helping us, it was part of our contract. We were to help them eventually when we had enough power to do so."

"What did they promise you?" Rhiannon asked, still skeptical of the whole thing.

"Protection for those we're doing this for," Haley explained. "You are doing this for somebody, right? They'll heal them, fix the problem, in exchange for a chance for a better world for us all, but we need your help to make it happen. Please Rhiannon."

Rhiannon stared at a hopeful Haley. She thought of the possible answers. She could run away now and never turn back. She could continue to Soul Catch and keep her mother alive for as long as she could until she found a permanent cure.

Or she could help her fellow witches and warlocks. She could help every person these kids were Soul Catching for. They would be healed.

Her mother would finally be healed.

With that in mind, Rhiannon made her decision.

"What can I do to help?" she said, more determined this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!
> 
> A/N: Sorry this chapter was so short and late. Puppies are hard work and I honestly haven’t had the motivation to write for a bit, but I will finish this. Slowly, but surely. See you all next chapter!


	8. Seven

Dean and Sam bust down the door in front of them and scoped out the room. The curtains fluttered in the breeze coming from the open windows. The house was freezing inside, dark, and dusty.

"Hello!" Sam called out.

"Rhiannon Graves," Dean yelled. "We just wanna talk!"

No answer. The brothers move forward and shut the door behind them. Upon hearing the tinkling sound of metal, they turned their heads. Their abrupt movements had knocked a few things off a nearby shelf, including a strange looking coin that Sam picked up.

"This is the exact thing LeSalle showed me," Sam explained. "It keeps the demon attached to its underling until they either cut the deal or in the case, I guess until the demon gets what it wants."

Dean swallowed hard, thinking of the young girl involved in all this. The only question was why.

The brothers heard a gentle groaning in the next room over and slowly walked there, guns drawn, and prepared for the worst.

Instead, they found something far more unsettling than what they'd imagined.

"Sam," Dean motioned to the woman in the wheelchair half slumped over and seemingly sleeping, but she was awake.

Her sleek blonde hair was in a messy high ponytail, as though it hadn't been cut in a while. It was maintained though. Her skin was fragile and frail as though she'd been old for a long time.

If she wasn't a grandparent, there was curse work at play.

"Hey," Dean said, coming over to the woman. "We're the Winchesters. We're looking for Rhiannon, ma'am. Is she here?"

The woman didn't respond with more than another muffled groan.

"Dean I don't think she can talk," Sam said. "I think she's the reason we're even here in the first place."

Dean stared at the woman, taking in her mostly decrepit state. It was no surprise why people did the things they did if loved ones were involved, but if this was bound to be their fate was it even worth it.

"We have to find Rhiannon," Dean concluded. "Before any of this gets worse."

"Dean, we can't just leave her here." Sam motioned to the woman and Dean sighed. He was about to tell Sam, once again, that they needed to leave, but another small metallic sound was heard as Sam accidentally dropped the coin, they'd found upon entering the house. It bounced a few times before landing at the feet of the wheelchair bound woman.

She let out another small noise and her hand begun to lift up from its resting place. It shook as she slowly, but meticulously tried to reach for the coin.

" _You rang_?" a voice called out from the doorway and Sam and Dean both spun around, guns drawn once again, to the source.

That was where they came face to face with a rather strange looking man-humanoid thing which they could only assume was a demon.

" _You're not Rhiannon_." It said.

The brothers stayed put, aiming their guns higher at its head in case it threatened to move.

" _Where's the girl?"_ it asked.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

"I still don't understand why I have to read the words."

Rhiannon cradled an old worn out book in her hands, staring down at ancient words that meant nothing to her beyond her bare-bones interpretation of what they said. The rest of the teenagers she'd been introduced to not that much earlier had left and come back dressed in robe-like clothing and there were strange symbols now pointed on their foreheads and cheeks.

Haley had stayed behind, pulling out an old box from a hollowed-out tree nearby, and had handed Rhiannon a similar robe before donning her own. She was currently painting the same symbols on Rhiannon's forehead the others had on their faces.

"Because I think you'll be good at it," Haley explained. "That, and you have this calm vibe about you that the others don't. I'm just hoping the demon king or whatever he likes to be called will pick up on that and not kill us all right away."

Rhiannon gave Haley a look of shock as she finished the last part of the symbol on Rhiannon's forehead.

"No pressure or anything."

"Haley!" Mason called out. "Get the new chick over here! We have to do the spell at exactly sunset! We're getting close to that time now!"

"Alright Mason," Haley rolled her eyes. "Keep your panties on! We'll do it right."

Rhiannon swallowed hard. She hadn't anticipated the execution of such an important spell to be riding entirely on her shoulders. Especially when she was in charge of casting it exactly right or it wouldn't work. It would be fine. It had to be.

Besides, she'd be given the thing she wanted most. That was well worth it.

"C'mon," Haley motioned. "It's time."

She guided Rhiannon over to the circle the teens had formed. Mason and another girl had drawn symbols on the ground matching the ones in the book Rhiannon held and they all stared at her, waiting for it to begin.

"If she's not gonna say it," one of the girls Rhiannon hadn't met before said. "I will."

"Shut up Megan," Haley gave her a look. "We'll get it done."

"You keep saying that," Mason rolled his eyes. "But all I see is Miss Tight Lips over here."

"I'll say it!" Rhiannon suddenly yelled and the circle quieted. "Just…give me a second."

The wind began to pick up and leaves circled the group, threatening to wrap themselves around their arms and legs. Rhiannon could have sworn she heard strange whispers in the wind.

She started to speak. The symbol started to glow. The other teens spoke their part in unison. She could see each of their eyes glowing a different color as they spoke, depending on the type of magic they had studied or inherited.

She subconsciously reached for her coin in her pocket, wanting her Soul Catcher demon to see what they were doing for his kind. She knew he'd appreciate it.

But her coin wasn't there, and Rhiannon felt her stomach drop.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

"What happens when this demon king or whatever rises?" Dean demanded.

The strange mist like demon man thing fluidly moved to lean on the door frame. Its consistency was that of a watery black mist around where its limbs would be. Its face looked mostly human. Its smile was wicked, teeth white as bone, and its eyes were black with red tinges around the edges. It was like nothing the brothers had ever seen before.

" _We Soul Catcher demons get our lives back_ ," it explained. " _Right now, we survive solely on the souls provided to us via our contracts. We're bound. When our Father rises, there will be contracts. There will be free reign on our Soul Catching. We will have to rely on the human witches and warlocks no longer_."

"What's in it for them?" Sam asked. "What would make them want to do this?"

 _"Our Father will give his most loyal followers the one thing they desire most in return for a lifetime of worship and servitude_."

Sam and Dean looked at one another and then back at the woman behind them.

Rhiannon's reason sat, wheelchair bound, in the office they were all in.

" _Oh that,"_ it pointed its misty finger. " _That is the result of an immensely powerful deal. One that cannot be broken easily. I suspect you two meatheads have already guessed that she's the reason I exist on this plane once again."_

"Fix her." Dean demanded again, pointing his gun at the demon. He fired when it smirked, and the bullet went right through its stomach.

" _It wasn't my deal,"_ the demon replied. " _You'll have to find her Soul Item in this house somewhere if you want any hope of breaking this."_

The brothers sighed and gave the demon a look. Sam stole a glance at the floor where the coin resided. He watched as the woman continued to reach for it.

 _"I would hurry too,"_ it pretended to check an imaginary watch. " _Time's a ticking and the ceremony will be done soon."_

The demon begun to laugh. It abruptly stopped though the moment it felt its wispy body starting to hurt. It cast a surprised glance Sam's way when it saw what was in his hand.

"Give your boss our regards." Sam said and lit the coin on fire. The flames tickled the edges of the rounded object and the demon began to squirm and shriek in pain until he vanished before their very eyes. The room reeked of sulfur after.

Dean and Sam coughed and fanned the air around their heads. They quickly scrambled to other parts of the house searching for what the demon had described. Sam texted LeSalle and got a quick reply.

_Soul Item: what breaks the deal and reverses the effects of it. Usually an unusual book, piece of jewelry or coin of some kind. Good luck._

Sam smiled, texted back his thanks, and continued to look. He searched the bookshelves for anything that screamed 'demonic' but came up short. Dean searched the bedroom, haphazardly pulling out drawers and tossing aside cards and other papers to aide his search.

He was about to give up when what was left of the sunlight glinted off the side of a rather well-kept polished stone. It resembled a river rock, with its shiny exterior and smoothness.

It called to Dean and he picked it up. Even a human could sense something was off about the rock.

"Jackpot," Dean waved it around once Sam entered the room.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

Rhiannon felt a strange feeling overcome her. It was as though, momentarily, a string had been pulled and detached itself from something in her innards. She was unsettled, but she couldn't linger on the feeling long. The other teens' eyes glowed brighter than before, the wind picked up harder, and the earth had given way before her.

There was a portal.

And she'd been the one to open it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!
> 
> A/N: My mental health has been shitty lately, but I'm slowly finishing up or continuing the stories I currently have going. Also, my internet and computer have been little shits today, but I'm also not letting that stop me.
> 
> See you next chapter!


	9. Eight

Rhiannon was knocked to the ground the moment the portal opened. Her elbows burned upon impact with the dirt and she was certain at least one of them was bleeding, but, at first, was too dazed to check. The other teens were either gasping due to the strong windy air or coughing from the dirt being thrown down their throats. The capes they wore flapped in the air and slid off their heads. The book blew out of Rhiannon's hand and landed up against a tree, pressing the spine against its binding until it almost broke.

There was a flash of light and Rhiannon squeezed her eyes tightly. Once the moment passed, she opened them again and her stomach dropped to her feet.

"Holy shit…" Haley gasped.

The sight was slightly underwhelming. Rhiannon had expected a rather large deity, perhaps with glowing eyes or a booming voice. She'd definitely watched Aladdin too much growing up.

Instead, before her stood a man. Or at least, the visage the creature had chosen was a man. A man with long dark hair and glowing red eyes. He was mostly hidden by the same inky black fog that her personal demon had. It moved with him the same way as her demon. He smirked and stepped forward.

" _Who dares summon me?"_ it said.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

Dean and Sam sped down the road. Dean took every corner sharply, trying his best to avoid any trash cans in the road, and almost running over an older man, who shook his hand and was seemingly cussing Dean out.

"Who are you again?"

Rhiannon Graves' mother sat in the backseat with Sam. Sam had watched her from the moment everything had happened.

_Dean sparked up his lighter and held it under the rock's underside. At first, nothing happened. The rock heated up a bit, so much so that Dean almost dropped it, but eventually its shiny exterior started to fade, and it started to burn._

_The brothers heard a scream from the other room and ran to where they'd left the older woman in the wheelchair. She was thrashing and almost seizing, gripping the armrests of her wheelchair, and breathing heavily as though she was crying. Sam ran over to her, grabbing her hand and trying to talk her through it. Dean gritted his teeth as the rock burned, feeling the heat seeping into his hand, and once the rock was fully engulfed, he was forced to drop it._

_The rock didn't catch anything beyond itself. It burned until it the flames went out and the woman stopped moving. Sam reached for her neck._

_She shot her head up and gasped, scaring Sam and knocking him over onto the floor. Her breathing eventually slowed and her hands loosened their grip on the wheelchair. She looked up at the brothers with confusion in her eyes._

_"What happened?"_

"We're brothers," Dean explained. He usually started with that angle. "We're here for a reason I'm sure you know about."

"I know you're not FBI," the woman replied curtly. Dean could tell she wasn't loving the situation. "It's not the first time that hunters have come here."

Sam swallowed hard, feeling as though he needed to move away from the woman. She wasn't at full power, that was for sure, but if Rhiannon was a witch it was most likely she was as well. The last thing the Winchesters needed was a hex while the potential end of the world was coming once again.

"Trust me," Dean replied, obviously not caring about threats. "You'll be glad we're here after we get to our destination."

"I may have been in a dreamlike state," the woman replied. "But I wasn't deaf. I heard what that demonic shit said to you. We can't let that happen."

"You know about what's happening?" Sam asked.

Dean stared back at the pair in the rear view mirror. Sam met his eyes.

"It's all my fault." The woman rasped out and hanged her head.

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

"Oh, Great One," Haley threw herself forward on the ground, kneeling on her knees, and pulling her hands together.

"We thank you immensely for joining us."

The Demon King stepped forward. The fog swept up his legs and he stared down at the teens surrounding him. All bowing, all chanting things in Latin, and all with their eyes closed and smiles on their faces.

The demon turned to Rhiannon.

 _"You,"_ the Demon King said in a smooth fluid voice, walking over to her. " _You said those words perfectly. You're not the first."_

"I just did what they told me to." Rhiannon's voice wavered. The Demon King reached out his hand and stroked her chin. She tried her best not to jerk her head away. Her heart raced. She felt as though she might throw up.

" _Spitting image of your mother,"_ the Demon King chuckled. " _It's beautiful, really."_

"Don't talk about my mother!" Rhiannon snapped back, but with little follow up. She stepped back a few steps, half expecting the Demon King to slap her across the face or worse.

Instead, he gave her a smile that made her skin turn cold. He sauntered over to the next teen in the circle, making the same motion with his chin as he had with Rhiannon's.

_"Well we'd best get started so we can save her then."_

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

"His name is Aamon," the woman explained. "I suppose you should know mine too. Nancy. Quite a plain Jane name for a witch I know, but I guess that's where my daughter's name comes in."

Dean gave her a quiet look when they stopped at a red light.

"Anyway," Nancy continued. "My husband was a warlock. We wanted a quiet life. I know Salem isn't the typical place to do so for our kind, but my family is from here. We moved here and a couple of years later I found out I was expecting. My husband and I were over the moon. We had a daughter on the way, and we were alive. Nobody had come to kill us yet."

Her last words were driven into Dean and Sam. She was still leery of them, but they needed her. Dean didn't say anything. Sam sighed.

"We were happy until we learned the truth," Nancy said. "Rhiannon was dying."

"So, you used magic and played God?" Dean asked in an accusatory tone.

"You tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing," Nancy narrowed her gaze. "That you haven't before?"

Dean didn't answer.

"I thought so," Nancy nodded. "We sought the only help we knew. We were young and stupid. My husband couldn't handle the magic that was taken from us in order to save our daughter. I could. My husband died, but our daughter was alive. He would have wanted it that way."

"So, you're saying this is the same demon you made a deal with? The one that is supposedly going to rise tonight?" Sam asked.

"Yes," Nancy nodded and slowly took Sam's hand due to hers shaking. "He will end the world if we allow him. Long ago, I made a choice to save my daughter. Now I have to make another to save her once again."

Dean parked at the edge of a nearby park, seeing the wind whipping up and the sky darkening as though a storm were coming.

"Well," Dean turned around to face the backseat. "It looks like you're about to get your chance."

-8-8-8-8-8-8-8-

"We summoned you with the intent of your great power making the world a better place," Mason explained, while on his knees and staring up at the Demon King as though he were a tiny puppy looking to be fed.

"We desire nothing more Lord."

The Demon King came over to Mason and smiled down at him. The young blonde boy began to cry ever so slightly. Rhiannon stared at his hands, filled with black clouds, and twitching ever so slightly as though they wanted to strike like a snake. He grabbed Mason's chin and leaned in close.

" _Some of us have many desires,"_ the Demon King replied, but his smile slowly faded, and Mason's neck cracked in two the moment after he spoke. Mason fell to the ground dead and everyone gasped.

_"That doesn't mean we get to see them come to fruition."_

Rhiannon felt her lunch starting to come up and she turned to the side and tried to breathe. The other teens hesitated a moment but seemed to still desire to please the King. Haley was the only other person who started to back up from the scene.

The Demon King turned back to the two girls.

 _"He was weak,"_ the Demon King explained. " _He would not have survived in this new world. I foresaw it."_

"And we will?" Haley asked.

 _"I have faith."_ The Demon King chuckled.

"Funny thing for a demon to have." A woman's voice called out.

Rhiannon shot her head in the other direction and Haley did as well. At the end of the hill, she stared into the eyes of the two men she'd seen at her school the other day, but in the middle stood her mother.

The Demon King paused, and Rhiannon could have sworn that she saw a hint of fear in his eyes.

" _Nancy,"_ it crowed falsely and let out a low vicious growl. " _We meet again."_


	10. Nine

The Demon King chuckled and shook his head, leaving the teenagers surrounding him in utter confusion and awe. His eyes flashed red, engulfing the entirety of his pupils, and they glowed. The air temperature dropped several degrees and Rhiannon felt a cold chill go up her back and tickle her spine. Haley and the others backed up as the Demon King passed through them, insignificant in the presence of who he was now focused on.

"Aamon." Nancy grumbled, and though she struggled a bit, she managed to walk up the incline of the slight hill before her. Rhiannon's eyes shot wide at the sight of her mother without her wheelchair, much less talking.

"Stop this now. We both know what you really came for."

" _Oh, do we now,"_ Aamon, The Demon King, laughed. " _I'm proud of you, for thinking you're really that special."_

"You wanted it years ago," Nancy replied, silently motioning for Rhiannon to run. "I'm here now. Take it!"

 _"You're so demanding,"_ Aamon said. " _I will gladly take what it rightfully mine, but it is not the only reason I came to this plane."_

Rhiannon heeded her mother's warning, waving Haley and the remaining the teenagers over to the tree line. They didn't make it far before Aamon sharply turned and muttered under my breath. The teenagers fell to their knees, writhing in pain, and gritting their teeth. Rhiannon felt tears escaping her eyes.

" _Going so soon my lieges?"_ Aamon purred. " _Are you so quick to forget our little deal? You know, the one you made when all of you summoned me!"_

Aamon's voice pierced through the growing wind and every single teenager by the tree line flew through the air and were pinned to a tree by seemingly invisible hands. Rhiannon and Haley thrashed against the restraints and Rhiannon looked over to Haley's hand out turned. It was pointed towards Aamon, waiting to strike with a magical fire she had conjured.

"Are you guys just gonna hang here or are you gonna fight back?" Haley whisper yelled.

Hannah, Megan, and the boy Rhiannon hadn't had a chance to be introduced to, all shook with fear. They stared at the back of Aamon's head as he circled around Rhiannon's mother like the predator he was. Rhiannon swallowed a hard lump in her throat, wishing she had never come here. Wishing she could just turn back time and end this before it got any worse.

Her eyes spotted the book, laying halfway across the clearing, caught on a tree stump.

"We need to get the book," Rhiannon said to Haley. "Maybe there's something in there that'll send him back."

"We can't do that!" Hannah cried out. "He'll kill us!"

"Would you rather he kill the whole world?" Rhiannon shot back. "The people we do this for?"

Hannah quieted. The others did as well, thinking about the reason they caught souls. The reason they'd made deals long ago. To keep their loved ones alive and safe. If they didn't try, the world might go on without them after all. Without anyone.

"Hey!"

Rhiannon heard a voice from her left and spun her head. Two men approached from the trees; knives outstretched. They moved swiftly, touching the knives to the air in front of each teen and they heard a sizzle. The invisible force holding them to the trees faded out and they dropped to the ground.

"Go!" the taller of the men shouted and pushed them along.

The shorter of the two grabbed Rhiannon's arm and pulled her behind a tree just as Aamon realized what had happened and the pain hit him.

" _Hunters!"_ Aamon growled and shot a wave of power into the woods.

" _Show yourselves!"_

The spell missed every target and Rhiannon breathed heavily, scrambling away from the shorter man's grip, and staring at him with wide eyes.

"My name is Dean Winchester," he explained. "Trust me, I'm here to save your ass, not gank it."

Rhiannon hesitated. She'd heard the last name before: Winchester. The atrocities that had been committed in the brothers' name to her kind. Every witch in the world knew the Winchester brothers and had tried to either curse or kill them at least once before. Now, here sat one of them beside her, offering a helping hand.

She would be a fool to take it, but something nagged at the back of her mind.

"That book," Dean motioned across the way, still panting and half out of breath from running.

"Can you read it?"

***

" _Nancy and Byron Graves,"_ Aamon and Nancy circled one another, each sending tiny spells and incantations one another's way. Nancy dodged every single one, and much to her disappointment, so did Aamon.

" _How could one forget the deal of the century."_

"You lied…" Nancy said, breathlessly. Charging Aamon and shouting another spell, one which did manage to hit and Aamon grunted and stumbled backwards.

" _I recall us discussing the whole matter beforehand,"_ Aamon growled and spun around, throwing a wave of power Nancy's way. She quickly deflected it and stared daggers at him.

" _Never once did I lie to you."_

"You minced words," Nancy explained. "If I had known the deal would leave my husband dead and me a mute cripple I'd never have said yes!"

Nancy threw another spell his way and Aamon stared down at his burnt arm. He felt the magic creeping through his veins, slowing causing hurt.

 _"Yet here stands your precious daughter,"_ Aamon gritted his teeth. " _Alive. Healthy. Isn't that what we agreed upon?"_

Aamon charged her. Nancy dodged it, stumbling as she tried to get used to the use of her legs once more.

 _"I just had the added incentive of having the literal world promised to me sixteen years later,"_ Aamon explained. " _Something about your bloodline. They're good at reading the words."_

Nancy's eyes went wide when Aamon picked her up by the throat using his power. Nancy struggled against her restraints, watching the Demon King draw ever closer to her. So close in fact, she could practically the hellfire on him.

"You wanted her alive," Nancy coughed and choked, realizing the reality of the deal she had made all those years ago. "So, this could happen."

 _"Once a demon makes a deal,"_ Aamon replied. " _Especially one of the caliber of mine. It can leave nasty side effects. Some of which may prevent another summoning. I needed your blood, but not necessarily you."_

He squeezed tighter and Nancy struggled to breathe.

" _Your daughter will make a beautiful Queen."_

"Hey asshole!" Dean called out and both Nancy and Aamon turned their heads. The Demon King snarled, and his eyes went blood red once more.

" _Winchesters!"_ he screeched and a moment later the earth behind him cracked open ever so slightly more.

Undead bodies began to crawl out of the fissure and Sam and Dean's eyes went wide. Rhiannon's hands trembled as she peeked out from behind the tree. She held the book in her hands, but her mind was rushing. The words seemed jumbled and stuck on the tip of her tongue.

Nancy fell to the ground as Aamon let go, setting his sights on the brothers.

" _Kill them all!"_

Dean and Sam stood ready, protecting the rest of the teenage witches crowded behind them. The undead sauntered their way, mouths outstretched, and teeth bared.

Rhiannon tried to speak, still nothing came out.

"Rhiannon!" Nancy cried out. "You can do it! You have to do it!"

The wind whipped fiercely, and the sky had turned pitch black. Sam and Dean struggled to fight off the undead monsters and her friends tried their best to help. Nancy crept towards the crack in the earth, keeping her eyes on Aamon the whole time.

Finally, Rhiannon spoke, and the world seemingly fell silent.

***

Aamon felt the spell taking effect the moment Rhiannon spoke. He shot his gaze in the direction of the tree where she had come out from behind and begun to walk over to her. Rhiannon looked up for only a moment and summoned what was left of her strength to stay focused and keep reading.

Aamon was suddenly stopped in his tracks.

He turned to see Nancy uttering a spell that left him unable to move. Aamon slowly tried each foot, making it barely a half inch each time. He growled and shot back power Nancy's way. Her stance faltered, but her spell remained strong. She shot Rhiannon a prideful smile.

Rhiannon could see the clouds swirling above her. The lights down below on the road had gone out. In the distance, sirens cried. Her friends screamed as the undead assaulted them. The Winchester brothers were tossed to and fro by the zombie-like creatures, but still fought back.

Nancy yelled another spell that started to pull Aamon towards her. She stood on the edge of the crack in the ground. Aamon threw his head back, glaring at her. Nancy gave him a determined smirk.

Rhiannon reached the last words and screamed them until they were taken and swallowed by the sky.

Nancy grabbed Aamon around the center of his chest and with one last look at her daughter, she fell backwards with him in her grip. The hole in the earth swallowed them whole.

"Mom!" Rhiannon screamed and threw the book to the ground.

Before she could reach the portal, it closed as quickly as it had opened. The wind died and the clouds in the sky slowed down. The undead creatures trembled, convulsed, and fell to the ground. One by one, they vanished into the same misty smoke the Soul Catching demons had surrounding them.

As quickly as it had happened, it was over, but Rhiannon couldn't even muster the feeling of happiness.

Suddenly, the world seemed far emptier than it had before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!
> 
> Wow, a lot of action in this chapter. I really hope everyone enjoyed the banter between Nancy and the Demon King (if anybody hasn't figured it out, she's the mystery woman in the prologue), and Rhiannon's leap of faith and show of strength.
> 
> I have one more chapter (an epilogue) planned for this story and it will come soon! In the meantime, enjoy this one, and I'll see y'all soon for the final chapter!


	11. Epilogue

The air was heavy, and Rhiannon certainly took notice when she thrust her bags to the edge of the curb and cast one last long glance at her house.

Life had changed for her in a split second. Her mother was gone, swallowed up by the earth, and clinging to a great and powerful Demon King as she went gracefully into the unknown world below. Hannah, Megan, and the other boy who'd joined them had fled the moment they'd heard sirens. Dean had been the one to tap Rhiannon on the shoulder and encourage her to do the same before the cops came.

Thus, had led to the weirdest night of Rhiannon's life. Two strangers had sat and then slept in her living room while she'd silently packed her entire life, or what was still left of it, into a suitcase at their command. Each item she'd held in her grip for a long while, especially those of her mother's she'd chosen to take with her. She'd spent almost her entire life taking care of the woman and the moment she'd had an opportunity to finally know her it had been snatched away from her in the blink of an eye.

The world was cruel like that.

She'd moved through her own home like a ghost left in a realm she no longer recognized before she'd finally finished packing for a life, she'd now call her own. Forget about school, a job, and college. The two brothers who had rescued her had other ideas.

" _We have a friend whose just like you,"_ the older one, Dean, had explained. " _He'll understand you. Take care of you."_

Rhiannon had agreed without protest. What choice did she have?

Now, she waited by the curb where an idling Impala was parked and ready to go at a moment's notice. The cops had found no evidence from the crime scene, but that didn't mean they wouldn't come knocking once they had something to go on. Sam, the younger brother, loaded bags into the trunk and slammed it shut. The elder brother leaned against the passenger side of the car and spoke inaudible things to him from where Rhiannon was standing.

Rhiannon sat down on the last step to her house and looked up at the grey sky, squeezing her hand tightly around the coin she'd used to connect herself to her demon. She'd whispered the words several times to summon him, but nothing had happened. Now that her mother was gone, the contract was broken. It was nothing, but an old coin now, but it still felt at home in her hand.

She looked over at Dean when he sat beside her and sighed.

"I feel so cheated." She said.

"Life will do that to you," Dean nodded. "Especially lives like ours."

"I have nobody now," Rhiannon remarked, willing the tears in the corners of her eyes to disappear. "It's just me."

"For what it's worth," Dean patted her on the shoulder and handed her a piece of paper with a phone number on it. "If you ever need anything from us, we'll come running."

It wouldn't change what had happened. Nothing could bring her mother back and make up for the holes still left to be filled in her life, but Rhiannon smiled and pocketed the number.

Dean and she lifted their heads at the sound of an engine approaching and a sleek dark blue vintage Mustang Fastback pulled up to the curb. The driver killed the engine and two men stepped out of the driver and passenger doors.

"Your ride has arrived." Dean mentioned and the pair stood from where they sat. Rhiannon hung back, hesitating to approach, but Dean egged her forward. She gripped the handle on her suitcase and slowly approached the sidewalk.

The man from the passenger side was ordinary looking, with a head full of strawberry brownish hair and freckles dusting his cheeks. His hazel eyes shone even in the dull sunlight and his smile was a million watts. His only slightly pale skin was covered by his blue jeans and black shirt. He affectionately patted the roof of the car and then looked over at the driver as he approached Rhiannon.

The driver radiated power.

He had jet black hair and piercing blue eyes. He wore a similar outfit as his passenger, but his shirt bore the logo for Metallica. He gave Rhiannon a crooked smile and reached his hand out to shake hers. The moment they connected; she saw his eyes flash purple.

A warlock.

"Heard ya just had the roughest night of ya life kid," the black-haired man said in a thick Southern accent. "I know all about that. Name's LeSalle Parker. This here's my partner Drew Tanner. You'll be safe with us."

Rhiannon slowly nodded, taking it all in. Drew reached for her suitcase and though he offered to put in the back for her, she barely heard him. She turned to see Sam and Dean waiting by their car, nodding at the man who called himself LeSalle as he made his way back to the driver's seat of his Mustang, placing a short kiss on Drew's cheek as he passed by and he flashed a smile too, causing the freckled man to smile and blush.

"Long ride back to N'awlins," LeSalle said. "We'd best get goin' if we wanna be home before Loretta complains that dinner's gettin' cold."

New Orleans. That was a long way from Salem, from everything Rhiannon had ever known. She swallowed hard, looking back at her childhood home, and images and memories flashed through her mind. She knew, deep down, this was the last time she'd ever see it.

There was nothing left for her here.

"Thank you," she turned to Sam and Dean. "For everything."

"You're welcome kid," Dean nodded, and Sam smiled before climbing into the Impala. "Salle's a good person. He understands what you've been through, but I'll leave that for him to tell when he's ready. Just know, you're not alone. You've got people in your corner now and if you ever need us-."

"I'll call." Rhiannon nodded and finally allowed a smile spring forth.

Dean returned it and watched as she slowly sauntered to the backseat of the Mustang and threw open the door. She climbed inside, taking in the feel of the seats and the sound of some indie rock sounding band singing about three and half minutes being a lifetime.

"Damn it Drewby," she heard LeSalle remark as he pulled away from the curb. "I told ya I didn't wanna hear any of that damn Indie music anymore."

"Not my fault you're stuck in time." Drew smirked. The banter between the two remained playful even when they stopped at the end of the street and Rhiannon glanced back one last time to see Sam and Dean take off in the opposite direction and to see her house sitting there, left empty forever more.

Those walls held answers she'd maybe find one day, but now was not the time for that.

Now was the time for new beginnings.

The Mustang turned left and sped off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Read and Review!
> 
> There you have it guys! The end of Taken By The Sky! This isn't my all-time favorite story that I've written, but I'm glad I finished it none the less. I do hope everyone enjoyed and if you're looking for more of my OCs (especially the ones mentioned in this story) check out "In Blackest Night" for some background on LeSalle and Drew (Loretta and Delilah too). I plan on revamping that particular fic soon and editing it, so it flows a bit better. So, stayed tuned for that as well!
> 
> As always, thank you for reading and see you in the next story!
> 
> Songs Mentioned: A Lifetime by Better Than Ezra


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